Six wins is all the Bruins will need.
Over the clanking of metal barricades being stitched together, the UCLA women’s tennis team concluded its last pre-tournament practice as the final preparations for the NCAA championships consumed the Los Angeles Tennis Center around them.
An entire tennis season was culminating in this moment, and the excitement was simply undeniable.
“For me, at least, I’m really excited to play tomorrow and I know the rest of my team is too,” said junior Robin Anderson.
On Friday, UCLA will begin its quest for those six wins when it hosts the first and second rounds of the NCAA’s 2014 Division I Women’s Tennis Championship.
Four teams, including UCLA (21-2), will play single-elimination matches Friday at Straus Stadium, with the winner of each match advancing to Saturday play when only one team will be allowed to make the coveted trip to Athens, Ga., and continue its journey for collegiate women’s tennis’ highest honor.
For the better part of two weeks, UCLA has known the identity of its first-round opponent, Sacramento State (12-16). The Hornets are riding a hot streak into the tournament, with a win against the Big Sky powerhouse Montana University Grizzlies (16-8), propelling them straight to Los Angeles.
Two other schools, Texas Tech (17-8) and Ole Miss (13-9), will open the regional at the Los Angeles Tennis Center when they face off prior to UCLA’s match. Regardless of whoever emerges victorious, the Bruins find themselves this weekend surrounded by a collection of teams most simply defined as unfamiliar.
“We’re going to have to get through regionals playing schools we never usually play, so we’re just going to have to take this regional tournament one match at a time,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “You can’t complain over things you can’t control, such as the matchups, so we need to simply focus on our own game plan.”
Although it is just the first of potentially six rounds in a national title run, the importance of getting off to a hot start is something players don’t overlook.
“Typically in tennis, the first round is usually kind of rough. We have to get into the swing of things, but we’ve been playing a lot of matches throughout the season and so it should be fine,” Anderson said. “But usually making it through the first round of the tournament helps you build momentum for the rest of the tournament.”
One loss, however, is all that it would take to put an end to the Bruins’ season and playing under these possibly devastating consequences assuredly adds an undeniably intense pressure. Yet, it’s something the Bruins feel they can handle.
“We’ve had so many close matches so that we’ve gotten some practice under pressure, I think that I’m confident our team is ready to go,” said senior Courtney Dolehide.
Six wins is all the Bruins need, and by the end of Saturday, they could be two steps closer to that goal.